Weekend Reading, #1: The End of the A380 in Sight, the A220 comes to Delta, and Ups & Downs for HSR

Remember our News Roundup series? This is roughly the same idea, but in a slightly different format. I plan to run this with two sections: one for items in the aviation space, and another for items outside of it (politics, technology news, really anything I find interesting) because aviation doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Please enjoy.

In Aviation:

The end is nigh for the A380, with reports that Emirates plans to make the A350 and A330neo the center of its future fleet plans. On Thursday, Airbus announced that A380 deliveries will end in 2021. Without a significant number of future orders, production beyond 2020 would be unsustainable. In response, Qatar Airways has announced retirement plans for the A380 that would see it phased out by 2024 in favour of the Boeing 777X. The final agreement with Emirates has seen it cut its total number of A380 orders from 162 to 123 (meaning only 14 A380s remain to be delivered). Instead, Emirates is taking 40 A330-900s and 30 A350-900s.

The order that almost sunk the CSeries (and pushed it into the arms of Airbus) is now reality, as Delta has taken delivery of their first Airbus A220. The entry into service was delayed somewhat by the U.S. government shutdown, but finally it has become reality.

The Panavia Tornado is exiting RAF service. The last examples of the type have returned to the UK from deployment in Syria, and will be retired completely by the end of March. The Tornado’s roles will be taken over by the Eurofighter Typhoon. Truly the end of an era as the RAF retires one of its most storied aircraft in recent decades.

As the ⁦@tornadohq⁩ nears the end of its RAF career here is a shot I took during the run up to gulf war 1 ..it was heading back to Dhahran after some pretty aggressive low level training the GRs were from Bahrain pic.twitter.com/KYk3dtIur3

The USS Hornet (CV-8), a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier sunk during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942, has been found by the RV Petrel private research ship funded by the late billionaire Paul Allen. The Hornet was scuttled after taking on severe damage from Japanese air attacks. The Hornet is particularly significant as the carrier that launched the Doolittle Raid, as well as being present at the Battle of Midway

The Franco-German Future Combat Air System (FCAS) has taken some big steps towards reality, with Airbus and Dassault being awarded the first contracts for the project. Meanwhile, Spain has joined FCAS as well, while Safran Aircraft Engines and MTU Aero Engines have teamed up for FCAS’ engines. The FCAS is planned to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale beginning in the 2040s.

High Speed Rail’s been getting a lot of press lately. On the bright side, it’s prominently featured in the proposed Green New Deal, which has prompted plenty of discussion about why this need must be met. Closer to home, B.C. and Washington State have agreed to create a joint project office to discuss the possibility of a Vancouver-Seattle-Portland HSR line. In less great news, Californian HSR may be in dire straights, as incoming governor Gavin Newsom plans to reduce his state’s HSR efforts to merely a line between Merced and Bakersfield.

As California appears to be putting brakes on high-speed rail project, a reminder: US is completely outside of the norm on intercity rail investment, & its transportation system is less effective, less convenient, & less ecologically sensitive as a result. https://t.co/0l8MZuuxJ2pic.twitter.com/pSmwgoi7nR

The scandal that’s dominating Canadian headlines this week has been the reports that Prime Minister Trudeau pressured former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the legal process against SNC-Lavalin.

Rivian, a U.S. startup aiming to be the first to bring an electric pickup truck to the American market, may receive investment from Amazon and General Motors. Rivian’s R1T pickup truck, which was announced in November, is planned to go on sale by fall 2020.